Kim tugged down the fabric of her blouse, doing her best to ignore the fact that Shego was ten minutes late.
She is coming. The redhead told herself, checking her reflection in the mirror for what felt like the fourteenth time. She wouldn't have phoned me earlier, otherwise.
The call had come through the hotel switchboard about two hours earlier, mere minutes after Kim had arrived back in her room after a day spent exploring Montreal.
"Hey, Pumpkin." Hearing Shego's voice had sent a shiver of concern through the redhead's body. Had the green woman changed her mind? Was she calling to cancel their date?
"Uh, hi." Kim could hear the uncertainty in her own voice.
"Having second thoughts about tonight?" So, it seemed, could Shego.
"So not." The teen hero said firmly. "You?"
"Second, third, and fourth." Shego gave a throaty chuckle. "You like Vietnamese food?"
Kim paused, surprised by the sudden change of topic.
"I don't think I've ever had it." She admitted. "But I'm willing to give it a try."
"Great." Shego was silent for a moment, as if thinking about what to say next, then said simply: "I'll make a booking for us at a place I know."
"Okay." Kim nodded, even though the gesture was lost over the phone. "Do I need to dress up?"
"Not really. Smart casual is fine. Wear something warm."
Kim laughed.
"It's Montreal in December, Shego. Warm was always on the agenda. So ..." The teen hero kept her tone light. "... does this call mean you're going to stop tailing me to make sure this isn't a trap?"
There was silence on the phone for several seconds. Kim winced, hoping she hadn't upset the green woman.
"You spotted me?" Surprise – verging on shock – was evident in Shego's tone.
"No." Kim admitted. "But the phone call right as I got in seemed a little convenient, otherwise."
"Yeah, I knew it would ... but I have to get home and change, so I didn't have much option."
"You could have just called me on the Kimmunicator at any time, you know."
"And have to explain to Nerdlinger why I wanted to speak to you?" Shego snorted. "I don't think so, Kimmie."
"Wade was the one who helped me find you, Shego." Kim walked to the window of her room and glanced up and down the street below the hotel. "And I'm pretty sure he was watching the tournament. I think he knows something is going on."
"Even more reason not to speak to him."
"I guess." Kim shrugged, giving up on her attempt to spot the lurking green woman. "Are you watching me now?"
"Yeah." Shego admitted, though she did not volunteer her own location.
"My hair must be a mess." Kim smiled. "It was windy today."
"You look fine." The green woman's denial sounded automatic. She paused and added, in a more heartfelt tone. "Really."
"Thanks." Kim smiled. "See you tonight."
Tap tap. Tap tap. The sound broke Kim out of her recollection. Instinctively, the redhead turned toward the door, then frowned as she realized the noise was coming from the opposite direction. She strode over to the window and drew back the curtain.
A hover-saucer floated gently on the other side of the double-glazed glass. Shego, about to tap on the window once more, paused with her hand raised, then turned the gesture into an uncomfortable looking wave.
Kim smothered an amused smile and gave a tentative wave in response, then pointed down and raised her eyebrows in a silent question. The green woman shook her head and pointed upward.
"Roof." Shego mouthed. The redhead nodded her understanding, gave another wave, and let the curtain fall back into place.
Crossing to the bed, the teen hero scooped up the Kimmunicator and flicked it on.
"Hey Wade."
"Hey Kim." Her long-time webmaster and tech support guy gave her a friendly wave, other hand still busy on the keyboard in front of him. "What can I ... woah -" the young man broke off as he turned to face the screen, his surprise evident by the fact that his typing came to an abrupt halt. "... you look nice."
"Thanks." Kim was proud of her ensemble. Montreal's winter weather meant she couldn't rely on the traditional little black dress to do its thing, but she thought she'd managed a pretty fair effort. Wade's reaction bore her out. "Having dinner with Shego." She added, doing her best to appear nonchalant. Sure, because I hit the town with former enemies all the time.
Wade looked shocked enough for both of them.
"Really?" The young genius squeaked. He coughed in embarrassment, then continued in less-strangled tones. "So you guys are ... friends?" It was clear from his expression that the boy-genius knew Kim wasn't telling him everything.
"Well, we're not throwing punches at each other." Kim felt a little guilty about the evasive answer, but she wasn't ready to tell Wade anything more. Not until I know there is something worth telling. "Anyway: I'm in the Hotel Montreal, and I need to get to the roof. Can you hack the service elevator for me?"
"No problem." Wade's finger's flew. "What floor are you on now?"
"Third."
"I'll have it there in twenty seconds."
"Please and thank you."
"This is a mistake." Shego told herself as she hovered a few feet above the roof of the hotel. Maybe you should have decided that before you spent fifteen minutes working up the nerve to tap on Pumpkin's window.
"I could still run." She'd nearly done it twice already. Her bag was packed and stowed under the hover-saucer seats. She'd lose the house in Hudson and all the money held in 'Anne Shirley's' accounts, but there were other houses; other identities; other accounts. She could still run. So why don't you?
"I made a promise to Kimmie. One date." The green woman fought the urge to lick lips turned dry by the wind. Riiiiight. The wind did it. One so-called date, and then Kim would see how ridiculous this whole mutual crush thing was, and they'd go their separate ways. Yeah, because Princess always gives up easy.
Light splashed across the rooftop as a door opened. Kim emerged, still buttoning her parka, red hair immediately whipping in the gusty wind. Shego's hands caressed the hover-saucer's controls, dropping it gently onto the top of the building.
"Evening, Pumpkin." The green woman was impressed by how calm her own voice sounded.
"Hi." The redhead gave a nervous smile and moved to the edge of the hover-saucer, looking surprised when Shego offered her a hand to climb in. "Thanks."
"No problem." The pale woman realized she was still grasping Kim's fingers in her own and hurriedly let go. "The restaurant is out in the 'burbs, so it'll take about twenty minutes to get there. Okay?"
"Sure." Kim settled into the saucer's passenger seat, then glanced up as a clear canopy slid up to enclose the cockpit. "Is that new?"
"Nah, we just used to keep the top down during missions because it made it faster to get in and out. I'm, uh ..." Shego trailed off.
"Hoping not to need to make a fast getaway, tonight?"
"Trying not to act quite so much like a wanted criminal."
"Oh." Kim crossed her ankles beneath her chair. "So the bag under the seats ... ?"
For a moment, Shego was worried. But the younger woman's tone was playful, rather than offended. After a deep breath, the green woman took a gamble.
"Baby steps, Princess. Baby steps." Shego allowed her lips to curve up slightly at the redhead's amused chuckle. It seemed Kim was trying to maintain the relaxed relationship they'd had at the tournament, rather than the earnest, uncomfortable interaction of that morning. Perhaps tonight won't be so bad.
"Wait. Before we go ..." Kim dug into the pocket of her heavy coat and removed a small object, wrapped in brightly-colored paper. Her eyes not quite meeting those of the green woman, she offered the package. "I got you something."
Perhaps it'll be worse.
"It's nothing big, but uh ... I originally bought it as a kind of peace offering for the whole kiss sitch. And now I ... well ... I figured that since I had it with me, you could have it as a belated Christmas present."
"Oh ..." Reluctantly, the green woman took the small object. It was heavier than its small size suggested. "I didn't get anything for you."
"Well since you weren't expecting to see me, I don't know why you would have." Kim gave a tentative grin. "You don't have to accept it if it makes you uncomfortable –"
"No, it's okay." Shego was confident that the only thing that would make her more uncomfortable than accepting the gift was refusing it. She took a moment to inspect the festive green and red wrapping. A tag had been attached, but not filled out.
"I wasn't sure what name to put on it." Kim flushed a little as she noticed the older woman's attention to the tag.
"Something's wrong with 'Shego'?"
"Well ..." The redhead looked down at her hands. "I just thought a present should have your real name on it."
"It is my real name." The green woman couldn't resist a smirk when Kim's head snapped upward, the teen hero giving her a startled look. "Well, my legal one, anyway. Hego insisted we all have them changed when he formed Team Go."
"Oh." Kim blinked, then frowned. "You mean ... both the Wegos ... ?"
"Are actually named 'Wego'? Yeah." Shego shrugged. "I really don't know why any of us put up with Hego's crap for as long as we did."
"So ... are you going to open it?" Kim nodded toward the package.
"Oh. Of course." Shego flushed as she realized she had all but forgotten the present in her hands. She briskly tore the wrapping paper open, then paused as the glittering contents were revealed.
Kim's present was a block of glass, crystal clear. Within the block was a delicate, filigree-fine etching of a brilliant, emerald-green orchid.
"It's beautiful." The pale woman swallowed, trying to moisten her suddenly dry throat. "It must have taken you a long time to find something like this."
"So not the drama. Really." Kim assured her. "I just saw it in the store and it reminded me of you."
The redhead had never been a particularly good liar, and the subtle shift of her eyes made it clear she wasn't being truthful. Not that it would have mattered if she was the most brilliant con-artist who'd ever lived. Simply by looking at the gift in her hands, Shego knew that Kim had gone out of her way to find something perfect. Pull yourself together. The green woman mentally scolded herself. So Pumpkin bought you a gift. That's sweet, but it doesn't make dating her a good idea. You've been hurt this way before. More than once.
"Victoria."
"Sorry?" Kim looked confused.
"My birth name ... it was Victoria. Victoria Lockhart. But call me Shego. It's what we're both used to."
A gift like Kim's deserved a response in kind. And this was the only thing Shego could offer to match it. Not that Pumpkin'll realize how much it means.
"Oh." Kim gave her a bemused, almost overwhelmed smile. "Victoria. It's a beautiful name." The redhead paused, looking bashful. "I know that you've always kept your original identity as private as you could. It means a lot that you were willing to share it with me. Thank you."
Shego felt her heart sink.
I am in so much trouble, here.
Entering the restaurant was like walking into a wall of heat and color. Bright banners, lavishly decorated with fantastical designs in gold thread, hung from every wall. Massive bronze lions, burnished until they shone, crouched on either side of the hostess's desk. Eddies of warm air filled the space between the walls, a testament to the building's otherwise unobtrusive heating system.
"Woah." Kim immediately began to unwind the scarf around her throat. "They like the thermostat up high in here."
"The owners are from southern Vietnam." Shego was shrugging out of her own heavy jacket as she spoke. "To them, it's cold when it drops below seventy."
"Well, I'm glad I don't have their heating bill." Kim grinned, turning to the green woman as she shed her own parka. Whatever else the redhead had been about to say immediately fled her mind. Shego might have said that 'smart casual' was sufficient for this restaurant, but the taller woman had clearly seized the opportunity to dress up. The former supervillain wore tailored black slacks that hugged her in all the right places, and an emerald green blouse with the top button undone, drawing the eye not just to the beautiful pendant around her neck, but also to the intriguing valley of her upper cleavage.
Oh crap. I'm staring. Kim yanked her gaze upwards, trying to ignore the heat that rushed through her as remembered all the times she'd been straddled by the statuesque beauty before her. Woah. Shego might not believe I can be attracted to women, but there's no doubt in my mind. Or any other part of me.
"Wow." The redhead managed to say, without sounding more than half-strangled. "You look amazing."
"Thanks, Princess." Shego's eyes lifted to her own, and Kim felt a moment of illicit thrill as she contemplated where the green woman's gaze might have been, a moment before. "You scrub up pretty well, yourself."
"Thanks." Kim blushed at the compliment. The redhead was proud of how she looked. Her pants and her jacket were dyed the same, rich, verdant hue. Olive green was a good color for her; it matched her eyes and really set off her hair. And it didn't hurt that green was clearly Shego's favorite color. The teen hero had offset the dark hues with a cream blouse and silver jewelry, chosen after a painstaking hour in front of the mirror in her hotel room. So worth it.
The restaurant's hostess, an attractive Vietnamese woman in a simple black dress, came forward to greet them.
"Good evening. Welcome to the Golden Turtle." The woman gave a slight bow of her head. "May I take your coats?"
"Chào Chi, Mai." Shego smiled easily at the woman, who gave a soft chuckle in response.
"Good evening, Anne. Chi khoẻ không?"
"Khoẻ, cám ơn."
"Very good." The woman smiled as she accepted Shego's coat, her tone turning gently teasing. "Your accent still needs a little work, however."
"I have trouble getting my tongue around some of the sounds." The green woman said, her eyes sliding to Kim as a smirk teased at the edge of her lips. "Know what I mean, Pumpkin?"
The blatant double-entendre sent an immediate flare of heat to Kim's face, but the challenging gleam in the pale woman's eyes made the redhead force down the instinctive urge to stammer out a denial. Shego's deliberately pushing me. She expects me to get scared and back down.
"Well, I don't have that much data to go on, so far, but your tongue seems limber enough to me." The redhead replied, with as much poise as she could muster. She felt a tiny glimmer of satisfaction when Shego's own skin darkened in response. Score one for Team Possible.
"This way, ladies." If the hostess understood the barely-hidden double meaning of the conversation, she gave no sign. Instead, she led them to their table; one of only six in the tiny restaurant; and left them to look over the menus.
"You speak Vietnamese?" Kim asked Shego, once she'd settled herself. The redhead poured a glass of water as she spoke, then gestured toward the green woman's own glass with the bottle.
"Only a little. Hello, goodbye, where's the bathroom. That sort of thing." Shego nudged her glass toward Kim so the teen hero could fill it. "When it comes to other languages, my Japanese and Spanish are pretty good, and my French is steadily improving."
"I know little snippets of half-a-dozen languages, but other than English, the only one where I can really carry on a conversation is French." Kim admitted. "Learning another language was a big part of why I decided to study overseas."
Shego nodded as she opened her menu.
"You going to take a look at that?" The green woman nodded at Kim's own menu, which still lay on the table. "I can point out some of the safer options if you need help."
"Actually, I was wondering ... do you think they'd do a sampler for us? Small servings of several different traditional Vietnamese dishes?"
"Yeah, they'd probably do that." Shego nodded, her eyebrows rising at Kim's request. "I'm something of a regular here –"
"I got that impression." Kim's tone was dry, prompting a chuckle from her older companion.
"- so I'm sure they'd do that if we asked. But are you sure you want to? They have some more Americanized options ..."
"What's the point of coming to a Vietnamese restaurant and then not trying authentic Vietnamese food?" Now it was the turn of Kim's eyebrows to rise. "That'd be like going to France and only eating burgers and hot dogs."
Shego looked doubtful.
"So what, when you were in Paris you actually tried stuff like snails and frog's legs?"
"Sure."
"Really?" Doubt gave way to surprise, then a little grimace of distaste. "What do snails taste like?"
"Garlic, mostly." Kim leaned forward. "Look, Shego ... I know you have this image of me as a squeaky-clean, middle-class, goody-goody. And sure, maybe I am all those things. But I'm not just those things. I'm not scared of trying new food, and I'm not scared of people knowing we're on a date."
"So you'd tell your parents about us?" The challenge was clearly back in the green woman's eyes.
"... if it turns out there's an 'us' to tell them about, yes." Kim replied, her voice steady even though her heart raced at the mere thought of that conversation. She lifted a chin and made sure to look Shego right in the eye. "But there won't ever be anything to tell anyone if you keep fighting it like you are."
For a long moment, Shego held the redhead's gaze with her own. Kim stared back, keeping her expression as calm as she could. It had to be said, but I really hope it doesn't make her walk out on me.
The silent tension might have stretched on indefinitely, had the waiter not chosen that moment to arrive at their table.
"Are you folks ready to order?"
"Yeah." Shego turned to face him. "We were wondering ... can you do us a sampler of several different Vietnamese dishes? Traditional items, like you'd eat at home?" As she spoke, the green woman's eyes slid toward Kim.
The redhead smiled and gave a slight nod of her head. It wasn't exactly an apology, but it might just be an offer of truce.
"Oh man, I am so full." Kim leaned back in her chair and fought the urge to give her belly a Ron-like pat of satisfaction. "Those bánh bao dumplings are amazing."
"They sure are." Shego's eyes were half-closed, and she had a contented smile on her face. "Though I liked the soup best. Or maybe the sticky rice dessert ... ché, I think they call it."
"It was all good. I'm just not sure I can walk out of here, right now." Kim looked mournful as she considered the prospect of trying to stand, and gave a heartfelt sigh of distress at the idea. "And even if I could, I'm not sure that hover-saucer is going to be able to lift us, now."
At first, the meal had been a mostly silent affair, the two women both unsure of what to say or how to say it. It was only when the flood of food began; an amazing procession of pungent, aromatic dishes, flowing almost without end from the kitchen; that the mood began to relax. It was simply impossible not to exclaim over the flavors, or to hold back from pressing a taste of something particularly good on the other woman. It was similarly impossible for Kim to refrain from laughter when Shego bit into her first Nem Nguoi; the small, chilled meatballs were extremely spicy, and the green woman's face flushed almost purple before she was able to drown the heat with several long gulps of water. It had been Shego's turn to chuckle when she snared the last of the bánh bao, allowing her to taunt Kim until the redhead's plaintive pout had finally persuaded the pale woman to relinquish her prize.
"It had better cope." Shego forced herself to fully open her eyes. "It's a long way to walk home." She paused, unsure of how to proceed. The earlier tension between them had dissipated in the mutual exploration of their meal, but now the food was finished, what was there to talk about? Need to think of something to talk about. "How was your Christmas?" Lame.
"Oh." Kim looked surprised by the question. She struggled back to an upright position in her chair and ran her fingers through her hair. "It was ... pretty good. I went back to my folks' place. It was a bit odd, going back to treating them as just my mom and dad, after everything that happened ..." She gave a half-shrug. "The tweebs ... my brothers, I mean ... said that France had obviously made me even more weird than I was before."
"So just a quiet celebration with the family?"
"Mostly, yeah. Nana Possible flew up from Florida, and Ron came over on Christmas Eve –"
"Isn't he Jewish?"
"Ron's not exactly what you'd call an Orthodox Jew."
"Stoppable's not exactly what I'd call an orthodox anything." Shego couldn't help but let a little acidity into her tone as she continued. "So, he didn't spend the holidays with his new beau?"
"She was with him." Kim obviously saw the shock in Shego's expression, because she hastily explained. "I asked him to bring her. I wanted to meet her. She's my best friend's girlfriend, after all."
"Uh huh." Shego was skeptical, and didn't bother to hide it. Kim simply smiled at the green woman's unconcealed doubt.
"Really. I was upset when Ron first told me about Kit –"
"What kind of name is 'Kit'?"
"Actually, her name's really Katherine. Katherine Chen. But everyone calls her Kit. She's a student at the same cooking academy as Ron." Kim paused, evidently trying to get her thoughts back on track. "Anyway, I was upset when Ron first told me about her, and it did take me a few weeks, but I got over it before I came home from Paris. Besides ..." she gave a nervous grin. "... I'm kinda interested in someone else, now."
"Someone else, huh?" Shego gave a lazy smirk and laced her fingers together as she leaned her chair backward and rocked gently on the rear two legs. "That someone must be quite a catch to attract the great Kim Possible."
"She might be." The redhead said mildly. "But so far, she doesn't seem to want to be caught."
Shego started at the sly dig, nearly over-balancing on the chair. She grabbed the edge of the table to avoid tumbling onto her back, and fixed the redhead with a dour look.
"Not funny, Pumpkin."
"I guess that depends on where – and how – you're sitting." Kim mustered a reasonable approximation of the older woman's trademark smirk. Despite herself, Shego chuckled at the familiar expression.
"Clearly, you're feeling lively enough to get moving." The green woman stood, ignoring a groan of dismay from her younger companion. "I'll just settle up the check, and then we'll leave."
"We'll settle the check." Kim started to reach for her purse.
"No, I will." Shego's tone was calm, but brooked no argument. "You asked for a date, Princess, and my dates don't go Dutch."
"Okay." Kim threw her hands up in the air in mock surrender, but by the brief, sunshine-like smile that flitted across the redhead's face, Shego knew that she'd scored points by underlining that this was a date. She answered with a smile of her own.
Maybe you should stop patting yourself on the back about that, and remember that this is a one-time deal. The sudden, bitter thought erased the green woman's smile completely. She settled the check briskly, her thoughts far away, then pulled on her coat in silence.
"Is everything okay?" Kim's question was diffident. The redhead stood with her scarf twisted nervously in her hands.
"... yeah, everything's fine." Shego paused. "You ready to call it a night?"
"Uh ... I guess ... I mean, if you are." The teen hero's face fell into an expression of bleak disappointment.
It was the escape route she'd been looking for all night. She had given Princess the one date she'd promised. All she had to do was say yes, and the night would be over.
But I'm not ready for it to be.
"Actually, if you're not too tired, maybe I could show you Montreal's best view?"
"Wow." Kim's voice was soft, the redhead seeming reluctant to spoil the peaceful moment. Shego had landed the hover-saucer near the summit of Mont Royal, the seven-hundred foot peak that was the highest point on Montreal Island. The two women now looked across the city's skyline, the office towers and other buildings glowing in the darkness of the winter night.
"Cool, isn't it?" Shego loved this view of the city.
"A bit more than cool." Kim half a ghost of a chuckle, hugging her arms around herself in an effort to keep warm.
"Here." The green woman stepped behind her shorter companion and slid her arms around Kim, but kept her hands a few inches away from the younger woman's chest. Concentrating briefly, the green woman let a tiny trickle of her power flare from her hands, bathing them both in a gently warming glow.
"Wow." Kim repeated her earlier expression, but her attention was no longer on the view. "... I'd totally forgotten how much control you have over your power. That's ferociously cool."
Shego blinked. As Kim had spoken, the redhead had settled back against the taller woman, and she know found herself uncomfortably aware of just how intimate their position could become.
"... well, they're still flames ... so be careful." The green woman struggled to gather her thoughts enough to form a sentence.
"I will." Kim promised. She fell silent for a moment, then spoke again, in a very small voice. "Do you want to get together and do something again tomorrow?"
Shego closed her eyes. This is your own fault. She scolded herself. You should have walked away earlier.
"The deal was for one date, Princess." Her voice sounded harsh from tension.
"I know what the deal was." Kim's entire body stiffened, and the snap of frustration was clear in her voice. The redhead twisted around and raised her head to look Shego in the eye. "I'm not talking about the deal. I asked if you wanted to. It's a simple question, Shego."
The green woman froze. It could be answered with a single word, but it was not a simple question. They both knew that.
I could say 'no'. I should say 'no'. Then Kim would leave, and they wouldn't be left trying to make this mad, ridiculous relationship work. It would be safer. It would be smarter. They would both be better off. Kim would go back to her shiny life of saving the world, and eventually realize that she liked men after all. Or in the unlikely event she actually was gay, would find a woman of whom she needn't feel ashamed. And I won't get my heart broken, again, when she leaves me.
"So ..." Kim's tone was less harsh now, almost wistful. "... do you want to?"
She had to say 'no'. It was the only option that made sense. She'd have to be the world's biggest fool to say
"Yes."
Author's Note: I know no actual Vietnamese. I cribbed the phrases used in this chapter from a couple of travel websites.
I'd apologize for the name of Ron's new girlfriend, if it wasn't for the fact that I've been gleefully waiting to use it for the last three months now :)